Tehran Accuses Israel of Killing Top Iranian Official

Iranian news media on Thursday were full of reports that Israeli forces have killed a senior Iranian official

By David Lev

First Publish: 2/14/2013, 8:27 AM

Lebanon border

Flash 90

Iranian news media on Thursday were full of reports that Israeli forces have killed a senior Iranian official. According to the report, “Zionists” assassinated Commander Haj Hassan Shateri, a member of the Revolutionary Guards who was in charge of Iranian construction efforts in Lebanon.

Shateri reportedly oversaw reconstruction in south Lebanon after the 2006 Israel-Hizbullah war. He had returned to Iran, but was on a visit to Lebanon this week when he was allegedly killed.

According to a report on Al Jazeera, Shateri landed in Damascus this week and traveled towards Beirut. At one point, while he was still in Syrian territory, Shateri's vehicle was ambushed, and he was killed. Iran insisted that the killers were Mossad agents, either themselves Israelis or Syrian rebels “who are working on behalf of the Zionists.”